Jeanette Sykes, of Elder Drive, Dewsbury, has had to give up her business of 18 years.

The 39-year-old thought she would never be able to move again after she broke her neck and was diagnosed as tetraplegic.

She said: "I couldn't believe what had happened to me. I was told I may never walk again. I was very active and full of life.

"I would never have dreamed something like this could happen on a trampoline. You think you're safe because you are jumping on a soft surface.

"I imagined I would be in a wheelchair and that I had lost everything I'd worked towards."

The accident happened in July 2006 when she was playing on a trampoline with her friend, Mark, at a barbecue. She recalled: "He stopped for a moment to talk to someone and I don't know if it was the fact that I was the only one bouncing while he stood still but I did a little turn and landed really awkwardly. I knew straight away that I'd broken my neck."

Following the accident Jeanette endured a risky operation where doctors inserted screws to support the fracture in her neck.

This was followed by five months of rigorous rehabilitation at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield. Fortunately Jeanette's accident coincided with the trial of a revolutionary piece of equipment at the hospital, named the Lokomat.

The machine is a Swiss-made robotic harness on a treadmill that allows the patient to walk without the weight of the body and improves mobility in those with spinal injuries.

Jeanette was one of the first people in the country to use one. To her amazement, just four weeks after using the Lokomat, she was able to walk short distances using crutches.

She endured a four-week programme on the machine, which cost £155,000, and has now been bought by the hospital. Nearly two years later she is still going for regular physiotherapy.

Although her life will never be as it was, she is delighted that she is able to walk. She said: "I'm lucky to be able to do what I can today. My hands have been badly affected by the accident and I can't do all the things I used to do in the same way, like painting, horse riding - and of course hairdressing.

"It's hard because it was a freak accident that has put me in this position.

"It's too easy for people to be able to buy a trampoline and shove it in their back garden without being made aware of how dangerous it actually is.

"I see they make trampoline with nets around them now but a net would not have saved me. It's providing a false sense of security.

"I was lucky enough to be able to use this amazing new equipment. Others may not be so fortunate."

Spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Roger Vincent said injuries related to trampolines had increased by 50 per cent over five years.

He said: "They can be a lot of fun but they can be very dangerous if the safety guidelines they are sold with are not followed."